Big bats haven't been given enough room in IPL 6

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The sixth season of the IPL has been very exciting so far and by the look of it will continue to be so right until the last ball is bowled. Who will come out on top is still a matter of conjecture. But with the way things are shaping up, whoever it is will have to play a mighty strong brand of cricket. As is the case every season, many of the foreign players have been the star performers this time around too. Some have made a greater impact to the outcome of the games than others, but that's always the case. While we are used to seeing foreign players like Michael Hussey, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dale Steyn perform at a very consistent level, there are a lot of foreign players warming the benches. Players who have no chance of playing in the starting XI. ....

Sehwag and Gayle are crucial to the IPL's success

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Virender Sehwag coming into form is a great sign for IPL 6. The Delhi Daredevils senior pro made batting look simple against Mumbai Indians at the Kotla earlier this week. While Sehwag intimidated the Mumbai bowlers, his opening partners Mahela Jayawardene batted with a touch of class. On display were two completely opposite batting styles. Sehwag with his superior bat speed was at his explosive best. Making the bowlers bowl where he wanted them. At the other end Jayawardene looked very composed and elegant, which is a hallmark of his batting. Just goes to show that knowing ones strength and being confident of one's ability can make you very effective even in T20 cricket. There are various ways to achieving the same goal. The opening partnership between these two made mincemeat of Mumbai's bowling attack. In the end it turned out to be....

Self-evaluation the key to Gayle and Steyn's success in T20

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There is no question about it. Twenty20 cricket is a game of confidence. When we look at the way Chris Gayle bats in T20, this point is brought home forcefully. Gayle is by far the best batsman in the format today. Or then take the case of Dale Steyn, easily the best fast bowler in all forms of the game at present. They not only make the games fun to watch, but they also make the playing of it look easy because of their supreme confidence. Though it may look like they play effortlessly, the fact is that Gayle and Steyn have worked very diligently and sincerely at getting their game to a level where they can play instinctively. Just like a good surgeon makes a complicated procedure look a matter of daily routine to the uninitiated, players like Gayle and Steyn, confident players, make cricket look easy and....

Looking at the Ashes, Australia have their work cut out

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Whereas India have until November to prepare for Test cricket, Australia will be going to England for the Ashes Test series due to begin with the first Test on July 10 in Nottingham. The clashes for the Ashes are something very personal to every Aussie or Englishman. At the present moment, the urn containing the Ashes belongs to England, and the Australians would very much like to change that. That's easier said than done. Unlike the team led by Steve Waugh, this Australian team is in the process of rebuilding. They have had a horrid few months in India, going down 4-0 to a well balanced Indian team on pitches that played to the strengths of the home side. Their confidence is bound to be low at the moment. With no Test cricket from now till the first Ashes Test, it's going to be tough to gain valuable match....

Sehwag will be needed in South Africa

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The decision to go into the remaining two Tests against Australia without Virender Sehwag is certainly a bold one by the Indian selectors. Every so often the selectors are compelled to make tough calls and this certainly has been one such. Before the series against Australia began, Gautam Gambhir was dropped due to bad form. With Sehwag as the experienced opener at the beginning of the series, the balance of the team wasn't affected. Rather it was ideal for Murali Vijay to have such an experienced partner at the other end. Now with Sehwag dropped for the rest of the series, Vijay suddenly finds himself the more experienced opener not withstanding whether its Shikhar Dhawan or Ajinkya Rahane who walks out with him to open the innings. In the first two Tests, Sehwag batted wearing glasses as he was awaiting the arrival of his contact lenses and naturally....

Though beaten, Australia were positive in approach

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India's eight-wicket win over Australia in the opening Test in Chennai was a well-deserved success. Sachin Tendulkar coming to the fore with a solid knock of 81 in the first innings and being not out and finishing the job in the second is a very good sign for the team. If Tendulkar's batting brought India closer to Australia's first-innings total, it was Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni who took the game away from the visitors. In the bowling department, India were head and shoulders above their opposition. R Ashwin looked at ease on his home turf and finished with 12 wickets and was well supported by his other two spin buddies. Against this, Australia didn't stand much of a chance once India succeeded in taking a sizeable lead. Australia definitely lacked spin options and this was very evident, especially when Dhoni joined Kohli at the crease with India....

Plenty of parallels between cricket and life

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When you first attend cricket coaching at your local club, you see immediately that a great importance is given to being disciplined in your attitude and approach towards the game. No matter what your age, before the coach begins working on various cricketing skills, he impresses upon you that there is great need to be dedicated to the game if you expect to be successful. Cricket is a game that demands discipline if you dream of success, even at the club level. Right from the get-go, your coach gauges the skills you need to learn and which skills to hone based on your natural abilities. According to the aptitude you show towards the various skills, you are assigned a particular amount of time per session to bat field and bowl. As a novice your role is to follow the instructions of your coach. While discipline is....

Saurashtra led the way for less fancied teams

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Most cricket pundits would have predicted the way the Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai and Saurashtra would go. Mumbai have won the trophy 40 times now. It's a record that doesn't look likely to ever be broken. Saurashtra, on the other hand, played their first ever Ranji Trophy final. It's been a great season for them. They have followed the example set by Rajasthan by coming past a lot of strong teams to make it to the final against great odds. As first time finalists, Saurashtra would have hoped for a very positive start to the match; to begin on the right foot and gain early momentum. After having been put in to bat they would have hoped for a modest first-innings total - something close to 400 at least - to have had a chance to put pressure on Mumbai . What actually happened was....

Ranji semi-finals offer interesting match-ups

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With the Ranji Trophy semi-finals slated to begin on January 16, the excitement for the teams preparing for the same has begun. Indian domestic giants Mumbai take on a very impressively performing Services team at the latter's home ground at Palam in Delhi. In the other semi-final Saurashtra will take on Punjab who have been a formidable team right from the first game they played this season. Punjab's performance has been so strong that they were sure qualifiers for the quarter-finals by the time they had played the first four of their eight league games. Saurashtra on the other hand have benefited greatly through their star batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja. In important games like these it matters even more whether you play home or away. Particularly for Services, it will matter a great deal that they are playing at home. The fact that they....

Spin bowling in India is a dying art

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Traditionally, in India, with the pitches taking turn it's always been up to the spinners to take wickets. For the Indian teams over the years and also for most Ranji Trophy teams, spin bowling has been the attacking option just like seam bowling is for the English. In earlier days as a batsman the safer and saner choice has been to hit the ball along the ground and score through the gaps in the field. Another factor that helped spinners back then was that the pitches were never covered and so were open to the natural elements. With batsmen not looking to loft the ball it was an effective option to toss the ball up and invite a drive and try and get the batsman to play a false shot. There used to be a time when it was frowned upon if a batsman played the ball in....